Kathy Thornton's Colleagues at Royal Oak Public Library
Kathy Thornton's Contact Details
248-246-3700
Royal Oak Public Library
Kathy Thornton's Company Details
In 1856, Royal Oak Township established a library funded by penal fines and run by the township clerk. After considerable growth Royal Oak Township residents voted a .25 mill tax to establish a public library on April 3, 1916. The library became a city library in 1922 soon after the City of Royal Oak was incorporated. After "struggling with space" and making several moves, the library dedicated its current 42,000 square-foot library building in April 1963 at 222 East Eleven Mile Road. After 43 years, this building was thoroughly renovated and rededicated in 2006.The library is located in southern Royal Oak, across the green from city hall and the police station, one block east of Main Street, in the downtown business district. It is near several principal routes including Woodward Avenue, I-75 and I-696. The library is open 60 hours per week and closed on Sundays. Free parking is available in the Farmer's Market lot across Troy Street from the library; the neighboring metered parking on Williams Street provides free handicapped parking spaces nearer the ramp to the main civic plaza entrance to the library. There are a few free five-minute parking spaces near the north door for patrons who are only returning materials to the outdoor return box.The Royal Oak Public Library is a Class VI library serving 60,062 (census 2000) Royal Oak residents. It is a member of The Library Network (TLN) cooperative which includes over 50 libraries; most public libraries in TLN offer reciprocal borrowing to residents of other TLN communities. Royal Oak Public Library also participates in the statewide Michicard program, which allows Royal Oak residents to borrow print materials from participating libraries throughout the state.